, 1804 , one of the first to be captured by the rebels Some time before daybreak on Easter Monday, 7 April 1760, Tacky and his followers who all had extensive military training began the revolt and easily took over the
Frontier and
Trinity plantations, killing some of the white overseers who worked there. However,
Zachary Bayly, who owned Trinity, was not among those killed by the rebels. Rebellions also broke out on the Esher estate owned by the wealthy
William Beckford and the rebels soon joined Tacky's forces. Bolstered by their easy success, they made their way to the storeroom at
Fort Haldane where the munitions to defend the town of
Port Maria were kept. After killing the storekeeper, Tacky and his men commandeered nearly 4 barrels of gunpowder and 40 firearms with
shot, before marching on to overrun the plantations at Heywood Hall and Esher. By dawn, hundreds of other now formerly rebels had joined Tacky and his followers. At Ballard's Valley, the self-liberated Africans stopped to rejoice in their success. One person from Esher decided to slip away and sound the alarm. On 9 April, Lieutenant Governor
Sir Henry Moore, 1st Baronet dispatched a detachment of the 74th regiment, comprising between 70 and 80 mounted militia from
Spanish Town to
Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica. These militia soldiers were joined by
Maroons from
Moore Town,
Charles Town and
Scott's Hall, who were bound by treaty and forced to suppress such rebellions. The Maroon contingents were commanded by Moore Town's white superintendent Charles Swigle, and the Maroon officers reporting to him were Clash and Sambo from Moore Town, Quaco and Cain from Charles Town, and Cudjo and
Davy the Maroon from Scott's Hall. Tacky's militia burnt houses at Down's Cove in coastal St Mary. On 12 April, a detachment of the Jamaica Militia led by Captain Rigby and Lieutenant Forsyth arrived at Down's Cove, where they were met by Charles Town Maroons (who were still called
Crawford's Town Maroons by the colonial writers) led by Swigle, and a contingent of black soldiers. Tacky's men attacked Forsyth's contingent, and killed a number of militia soldiers, losing only three people in the process. Tacky himself was reportedly wounded in the assault. When the Jamaica Militia learned of the Obeahman's boast of not being able to be killed, an Obeahman was captured, killed and hung with his mask, ornaments of teeth and bone and feather trimmings at a prominent place visible from the encampment of the self-liberated Africans. Many of them, confidence shaken, returned to their plantations. Tacky reportedly reluctantly agreed to fight on, with about 25 other men. On 14 April, other Maroon parties from Scott's Hall and Moore Town joined the Charles Town Maroons, and led by Swigle, they engaged Tacky's men in a battle in Rocky Valley, and routed them, defeating and killing a number of the men. Tacky and the remainder of his men went running through the woods being chased by the Maroons and their legendary marksman, Davy. While running at full speed, Davy shot Tacky and cut off his head as evidence of his feat, for which he would be richly rewarded. Tacky's head was later displayed on a pole in
Spanish Town until a follower took it down in the middle of the night. The rest of Tacky's men were found in a cave near Tacky Falls, having committed suicide rather than going back to slavery. Self-liberated Africans shaved their heads to signal the start of the uprising. On 25 May, the western movement started when self-liberated Africans under the command of Apongo rose up in revolt on the Masemure estate in Westmoreland. One of Apongo's lieutenants, Simon, fired the shot that killed Masemure's managing attorney, John Smith, and that signalled the start of the western movement. The self-liberated Africans had timed their rebellion to coincide with the departure of a naval escort from the bay of
Bluefields, Jamaica, correctly assuming that security would be more lax at that time. Apongo later admitted that he had planned to attack the bay, but some of his lieutenants argued against an attack on the coast. Vincent Brown surmised that Simon may have been one of those lieutenants who preferred to fight on in the forested mountains. Apongo's rebels were well-stocked in their attempts to resist counter-attacks from the militia and their Maroon allies. After the assault on the "Rebel's Barricade", the attackers found over 70 hogsheads of gunpowder, and mahogany chests full of clothes, ruffled shirts, laced hats, shoes, stockings and cravats, among the basic necessities. Refugees, both white and black, fled to the Westmoreland capital of
Savanna-la-Mar and surrounding ports. The militia and Maroons counter-attacked with sporadic engagements, and in the process captured and killed a number of rebels. Many of those captured were summarily executed without trial. On 29 May, an attempt by the Westmoreland Militia to storm the rebels' barricaded encampment was soundly defeated and repelled. This success resulted in the rebels gaining more recruits by the day, and so demoralised the militia that they started to suffer from significant numbers of desertions. Lieutenant Governor Moore once again declared martial law. A company of the 74th Regiment of Foot, which was quartered at Savanna-la-Mar, and two detachments of Maroons then joined the militia. On 1–2 June, bolstered by militia troops from two more western parishes, a detachment of British regulars and sailors, and the skilled Maroon warriors of
Accompong Town, British colonial forces successfully stormed the barricade and drove the rebels there out following a two-hour battle, killing and capturing scores of rebels. A party of Accompong Maroons led by Maroon Captain Quashee, reporting to white superintendent John Kelly, captured six rebels in one skirmish. However, despite this overwhelming victory, British forces had difficulty making headway against the guerrilla warfare now being employed by smaller groups of Apongo's soldiers. On 5 June, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Spragge, found that the only group that was able to follow up with successes against the rebels were the Maroons of
Trelawny Town. Under Maroon captains Furry of Trelawny Town and Accompong's Quashee, they killed more than a dozen rebels, and captured another 60, whom they brought to the estate of Moreland on 6 June. The rebels continued to resist the British for the rest of the year in western Jamaica, forcing the governor,
Sir Henry Moore, 1st Baronet, to continue imposing martial law in Westmoreland and surrounding areas. On 10 June, on the outskirts of the estate of Mesopotamia, owned by
Joseph Foster Barham I, a detachment of British regulars and militia defeated a band of rebels, killing about 40 and capturing another 50. Facing defeat, many rebels committed suicide. Accounts from members of the militia boasted that about 700 rebels were killed in Western Jamaica. Thistlewood noted the stench of death emanating from nearby woods, where colonists also reported encountering hanging bodies of African men, women and children. The rebels were surrendering every day. On 3 July, the "King of the Rebels" Apongo was among those rebels captured by the militia. Another rebel named Davie was executed by being put in the
gibbets to starve to death, which took a week to reach its conclusion. Apongo himself was hung up in chains for three days, after which he was to be taken down and burnt to death, according to his sentence. However, Apongo died in his cage within the three days, escaping the final part of his sentence. The remaining rebels then fell under the leadership of a self-liberated slave named Simon, which took refuge in the
Cockpit Country at a place called High Windward, from which they mounted a number of attacks on nearby plantations in
Saint Elizabeth Parish. In October, in one such raid, these rebels attacked and destroyed Ipswich sugar estate, which was located at the mouth of the Y.S. river. On 23 December, Simon's rebels burnt down a house belonging to a Thomas Durrant, and shot another white man. High Windward eventually became the headquarters of another community of self-liberated Africans at the end of the century, led by
Cuffee. It was reported that Simon's rebels numbered about 50 armed men and women, and that their goal was to secure recognition for their freedom, similar to the status accorded to the Maroons of Trelawny Town. Shortly afterwards, parties sent to hunt Simon's rebels reported killing some of them, whereupon they cut off their heads, and stuck them on poles. However, Simon and the majority of his soldiers escaped, and the Assembly then summoned Hynes and his black regiment to hunt Simon's rebels. In January 1761, Simon's rebels relocated to a place named Mile Gully, which was then situated in
Clarendon Parish, Jamaica. There were reports that Simon was shot and killed in a skirmish with a party sent to apprehend the rebels. Despite Simon's death, his band of soldiers continued to raid western estates, possibly under a new leader. In 1763, bands of self-liberated Africans thought to have been members of Simon's rebels attacked plantations in Westmoreland and Hanover, killing several white colonists. This attack was brought to the attention of the new governor,
William Henry Lyttelton, who aborted a tour to deal with the crisis, with the help of the Maroons of Trelawny Town. ==Aftermath==